Sun Yi suppressed a scoff. Active thermal regulation? Is that all it is?
True Fire was, in essence, a method for cultivators below the Golden Core stage to convert their internal True Qi into a high-energy plasma state. Sun Yi had already downloaded the theoretical framework from the Scripture Library and parsed the necessary protocols.
Moreover, his system architecture now boasted eight parallel processing cores—his eight Divine Souls. Each soul possessed terrifying computational power. Running a background simulation on the “Dao of True Fire” while multitasking was trivial.
“The Headmaster has initialized the flame so quickly,” Elder Ye Luo observed, nodding sagely. “The next step is to refine your control parameters.”
“Currently, the Sect possesses dozens of algorithms for flame manipulation. I have compiled the most efficient ones into this jade slip. Headmaster, please review it. With your aptitude, I estimate you will achieve stable runtime in about a month.”
As he spoke, Elder Ye Luo handed over a green jade slip.
Sun Yi took it and initiated a scan with his Divine Sense. The data uploaded instantly. Elder Ye Luo’s documentation was excellent—structured, modular, and proceeding logically from basic syntax to complex functions.
Sun Yi smiled faintly. The jade slip contained gigabytes of theory, but the core logic could be compressed into a single line of code: Proficiency equals Iteration.
He immediately engaged his Dantian. True Qi surged through his meridians, venting from his right palm.
Ignition.
A sphere of crimson True Fire, roughly the size of a basketball, manifested above his hand, hovering in a stable magnetic containmnent field of Qi.
Using his Divine Soul as the operating system, Sun Yi began to manipulate the geometry of the flame.
At first, the latency was high. Trying to render a simple polygon—let alone a complex model like a “firebird”—resulted in jagged, unstable shapes.
He kept at it until the True Qi in his primary Dantian hit 0%. He had barely scratched the surface, but the heuristic data was accumulating. He wasn’t far from a successful compile.
“Tsk, tsk. The Headmaster is truly a heaven-sent prodigy,” Ye Luo marveled, stroking his beard. “I predicted a thirty-day learning curve. It seems I must revise that estimate down by ten days.”
Ye Luo was genuinely shocked. He knew Sun Yi was a genius, but this learning speed suggested a processor speed far beyond his comprehension.
Sun Yi offered a noncommittal smile.
Phase Two: Switch to dedicated hardware.
This time, instead of drawing from his general-purpose Dantian, he routed power directly from the Fire Gate.
The difference was immediate. The True Qi from the Fire Gate wasn’t the generic energy of the Dantian; it was a specialized, single-attribute fuel source. Pure, high-octane fire essence.
POOF!
A sphere of fire instantly materialized above his palm. But this wasn’t the dull crimson of before. This flame was a deep, saturated scarlet, radiating a thermal output that distorted the air around it.
“This is…” Elder Ye Luo stumbled back, eyes bulging. He stared at the high-density plasma sphere in disbelief.
The volume was identical, but the energy density had spiked off the charts. The temperature readings would be terrifying.
“Headmaster… is this True Fire condensed from your new Dantian?” Ye Luo asked, his voice trembling with curiosity.
Sun Yi nodded. “Affirmative. The Fire Gate’s output is optimized for this application. The combustion efficiency is higher, the thermal output is superior, and the control latency is near zero.”
As he spoke, Sun Yi began to morph the flame. The lag was gone. The fire obeyed his will with fluid precision. Within two hours, he had rendered a low-resolution model of a firebird.
“To think opening the Fire Gate grants such advantages…” Elder Ye Luo muttered, reassessing everything he knew about cultivation.
Suddenly, the Fire Gate ran dry.
Sun Yi didn’t pause to meditate. He reached into his inventory and pulled out two High Grade Spirit Stones.
Refueling.
He crushed the stones, brute-forcing the spiritual energy into his system to recharge the Fire Gate instantly.
A massive amount of energy surged into him. However, due to the crude absorption method, over 70% of the precious Qi vented into the atmosphere as waste heat.
If any other disciple had wasted High Grade Spirit Stones—strategic resources worth cities—in such a reckless manner, Elder Ye Luo would have slapped them into a coma. But for Sun Yi? Ye Luo simply pretended not to see. This was the privilege of the CEO.
Sun Yi recharged, drained the tank practicing, and recharged again.
He repeated this “Pay-to-Win” cycle four times.
Finally, the proficiency bar filled.
The flame in front of him twisted and solidified into a high-definition model. A firebird, the size of a basketball, flapped its wings with lifelike animation, radiating intense heat.
With a thought from Sun Yi, the bird executed a complex flight path, orbiting his body with perfect agility.
“Congratulations, Headmaster!” Elder Ye Luo beamed. “You have entered the Novice stage. You now have half a foot through the door of an Artifact Forger.”
Ye Luo was reeling. He had estimated a month. Sun Yi had done it in less than 24 hours.
“It is thanks to Elder Ye Luo’s technical support,” Sun Yi said politely. He meant it. Without the manual and the troubleshooting, he would have wasted time on trial and error.
Ye Luo waved his hands frantically. “No, no! It is the Headmaster’s extraordinary specs! This old man merely watched.”
“Extraordinary specs, indeed,” Sun Yi mused.
He ran a post-mortem on his performance. Why was the compilation time so short?
Expert Consultant (Ye Luo).
Multi-Core Processor (8 Divine Souls = insane parallel processing).
Dedicated Hardware (Fire Gate).
System Buffs (Bodhi Tea).
Unlimited Budget (Spamming High Grade Spirit Stones).
With that many unfair advantages, failure would have been the real anomaly.
“Since the Headmaster has installed the drivers for True Fire, we can proceed to the beta test: Artifact Forging.”
Elder Ye Luo spent the next hour lecturing on the safety protocols and chemical reactions involved in smelting.
Then, Sun Yi began his first fabrication attempt.
Hovering before him were two raw materials: a head-sized chunk of Black Mysterious Iron and a palm-sized shard of Crimson Crystal.
Execute.
A burst of True Fire erupted. The thermal radiation spiked. Sun Yi manipulated his Qi, tossing the raw materials into the plasma furnace.
Under the intense heat, the solid matter underwent a phase change. The Black Mysterious Iron and Crimson Crystal melted into viscous liquids. They tumbled within the flames, boiling as impurities were vaporized and vented as gas.
An hour later.
The large chunk of iron had been reduced to a fist-sized sphere of black liquid. It shimmered with a dark, glossy sheen—pure, dense, and free of bubbles. The Crimson Crystal had been refined down to a thumb-sized droplet of red jade-like fluid, agonizingly beautiful.
Elder Ye Luo sensed the purity of the output. He sighed internally, overwhelmed.
Sun Yi was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, yet his purification metrics rivaled a veteran smith. It was simply unfair.
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